Shear‐Induced Crystallization in a Blend of Isotactic Poly(propylene) and Poly(ethylene‐co‐octene)

Summary: Shear‐induced crystallization in a blend of isotactic poly(propylene) and poly(ethylene‐co‐octene) (iPP/PEOc) has been investigated by means of in‐situ optical microscopy and a shear hot stage under various thermal and shear histories. Cylindrites are observed after shear in the phase‐separated iPP/PEOc blends for the first time. The nuclei (shish) come from the orientation of the entangled network chains, and the relationship between the shear rate and the network relaxation time of the oriented iPP chains is a very important factor that dominates the formation of the cylindrites after liquid‐liquid phase separation. The cylindrites can grow through phase‐separated domains with proper shear rate and shear time. In addition, the number of spherulites increases with shear rate, which is consistent with the notion of fluctuation‐induced nucleation/crystallization.

Phase‐contrast optical micrograph of the iPP/PEOc = 50/50 (wt.‐%) sample sheared during cooling with shear rate of 10 s⁻¹ and isothermally crystallized at 140 °C for 142 s after isothermal annealing at 170 °C for 420 min. The shear time is 180 s.     

Probing Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of a Polyethylene Blend with Thermal Analysis

Summary: A series of polyethylene (PE) blends consisting of a high density polyethylene (HDPE) and a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) with a butene-chain branch density of 77/1000 carbon was prepared at different concentrations. The LLDPE only crystallized below 50 °C, therefore, above 80 °C and below the melting temperature of HDPE, only HDPE crystallized in the PE blends. A specifically designed multi-step experimental procedure based on thermal analysis technique was utilized to monitor the liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of this set of PE blends. The main step was first to quench the system from the homogeneous temperatures and isothermally anneal them at a prescribed temperature higher than the equilibrium melting temperature of the HDPE for the purpose of allowing the phase morphology to develop from LLPS, and then cool the system at constant rate to record the non-isothermal crystallization. The crystallization peak temperature (T_p) was used to character the crystallization rate. Because LLPS results in HDPE-rich domains where the crystallization rates are increased, this technique provided an experimental measure to identify the binodal curve of the LLPS for the system indicated by increased T_p. The result showed that the LLPS boundary of the blend measured by this method was close to that obtained by phase contrast optical microscopy method. Therefore, we considered that the thermal analysis technique based on the non-isothermal crystallization could be effective to investigate the LLPS of PE blends.     

Fluctuation‐assisted crystallization of an iPP/PEOc polymer alloy prepared on a single multicatalyst reactor granule

The new fluctuation‐assisted mechanism for nucleation and crystallization in the isotactic polypropylene/poly(ethylene‐co‐octene) alloy has been studied. We found that the liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) had a dominant influence on the crystallization kinetics through the nucleation process. After LLPS, the nucleation of crystallization mainly occurred at the interface of the phase‐separated domains. It is because that the concentration fluctuations of the LLPS induced the motion of polymer chains and possibly some segmental alignment and/or orientation in the concentration gradient regions through interdiffusion, which could assist the formation of nuclei for crystallization. In other words, the usual nucleation energy barrier could be overcome (or at least partially) by the concentration fluctuation growth of LLPS in the unstable regions. This could be viewed as a new kind of heterogeneous nucleation and could be an addition to the regular nucleation and growth mechanism for crystallization. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 166–172, 2009     

Designing a Polymer Blend with Phase Separation Tunable by Visible Light for Computer‐Assisted Irradiation Experiments

Summary: A mixture of poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) and a polystyrene derivative bearing cinnamate groups (PSC) was chemically designed so that its phase separation can be tunable by visible light for computer‐assisted irradiation (CAI) experiments. This PSC/PVME blend exhibits a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and undergoes phase separation upon irradiation with 405 nm visible light. The phase separation was induced by photodimerization of the cinnamate moieties in the presence of 5‐nitroacenaphthene used as a photosensitizer. It was found that for visible light with high intensity, phase separation process was almost frozen by photodimerization of the cinnamate groups which act as a photo‐cross‐linker for the PSC component. It is demonstrated in this work that by using this PSC/PVME blend, phase separation restricted to the micrometer scales can be induced and manipulated by irradiation using a computer‐controlled digital projector. These preliminary results open a new route for spatio‐temporal manipulation of phase separation in photo‐reactive polymer blends.

Computer‐assisted irradiation method for a polymer blend with phase separation drivable by visible light.     

A Closed‐Loop Phase Diagram in a Weakly Interacting Polyolefin Copolymer Binary Blend System

Summary: The phase behavior of poly(ethylene‐co‐styrene) (PES) and poly(ethylene‐co‐butene) (PEB) blends has been studied. A closed‐loop phase diagram was clearly observed in this weakly interacting system as the styrene content in the PES decreased to about 1 mol‐%. At higher styrene contents, the phase loop starts to interplay with the crystallization transformation at lower temperatures.

Phase diagram of PEB/PES blends. Phase boundary line is only for easy demonstration.     

Monte Carlo Simulations of the Phase Separation of a Copolymer Blend in a Thin Film

Monte Carlo simulations were carried out to study the phase separation of a copolymer blend comprising an alternating copolymer and/or block copolymer in a thin film, and a phase diagram was constructed with a series of composed recipes. The effects of composition and segregation strength on phase separation were discussed in detail. The chain conformation of the block copolymer and alternating copolymer were investigated with changes of the segregation strength. Our simulations revealed that the segment distribution along the copolymer chain and the segregation strength between coarse‐grained beads are two important parameters controlling phase separation and chain conformation in thin films of a copolymer blend. A well‐controlled phase separation in the copolymer blend can be used to fabricate novel nanostructures.     

Monitoring the Dynamics of Phase Separation in a Polymer Blend by Confocal Imaging and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

The phase separation of the polymer blend polystyrene/poly(methyl phenyl siloxane) (PS/PMPS) is studied in situ by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) and by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) at macroscopic and microscopic length scales, respectively. It is shown for the first time that FCS when combined with LSCM can provide independent information on the local concentration within the phase‐separated domains as well as the interfacial width.     

Crystallization‐Induced Phase Segregation Based on Double‐Crystalline Blends of Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) and Poly(ethylene glycol)s

Crystallization‐induced vertical stratified structures were constructed based on double‐crystalline poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT)/poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEG) systems at room temperature, in which the P3HT crystallinity and the mechanism were investigated. Vertical stratified microstructures with highly crystalline P3HT network on the surface were formed when depositing from marginal solvents, while lateral phase‐separated structures or low P3HT crystallinity were observed for good solvents. The morphological differences came from the solvent effect. In marginal solvents, p‐xylene and dichloromethane, P3HT large‐scale microcrystallites were generated in solution, which ensured the priority of P3HT crystalline sequence, and phase separation began in the liquid states. When the PEG matrix began to crystallize, great energy from which the second phase separation was induced drove P3HT crystallites to the surface, resulting in the formation of vertical stratified microstructures with highly crystalline P3HT network on the surface. The method, crystallization‐induced phase segregation of crystalline–crystalline blends in marginal solvent, provides a facile way to construct vertically stratified structures, in which P3HT highly crystalline network is favored.

     

Morphology Evolution during the Phase Separation of Polyetherimide/Epoxy Blends

The results of time‐resolved light scattering for the phase separation of epoxy/polyetherimide/anhydride blends show that the evolution of scattering vector q_m follows a Maxwell‐type relaxation equation. The relaxation time may be suggested as the time taken for the diffusion of the epoxy‐anhydride n‐mers from the PEI‐rich phase by their relaxation movement, and the apparent activation energy of the relaxation movement is obtained.

Values of q_m versus time at different temperatures.     

小分子优先结晶构筑聚合物/非富勒烯共混体系互穿网络结构

非富勒烯小分子受体(SMAs)有序聚集决定聚合物/非富勒烯共混体系光伏电池的双分子复合几率。 然而,由于非对称相分离聚合物趋于优先形成网络,抑制小分子受体分子结晶。 在聚[(2,6-(4,8-二(5-(2-乙基己基噻吩-2-基)苯并[1,2-b:4,5-b']二噻吩))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-二-2-噻吩基-5',7'-二(2-乙基己基)苯并[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']二噻吩-4,8-二酮))](PBDB-T)/9-二(2-亚甲基(3-(1,1-二氰基亚甲基)-6,7-二氟-茚酮))-5,5,11,11-四(4-己基苯基)-二噻吩并[2,3-d:2',3'-d']-s-引达省[1,2-b:5,6-b']二噻吩(IT-4F)共混体系,四氢呋喃蒸汽处理可提高IT-4F结晶性,150 ℃热退火可提高PBDB-T的结晶性。 因此,依次利用蒸汽退火和热退火处理薄膜,诱导小分子先结晶、聚合物后结晶,从而降低PBDB-T对小分子扩散的限制,构建高结晶互穿网络结构。 形貌优化后降低了双分子复合,器件光电转换效率从5.95%提高至7.18%。     

聚乙烯共混物的相容性及液-液相分离

综述了聚乙共混物的相容性及液－液相分离行为,介绍了关于液－液相分离研究两派不同观点的实验条件、实验现象和主要结论。     

Specular and Diffuse Reflectance of Phase‐Separated Polymer Blend Films

Diffuse reflectors have various applications in devices ranging from liquid crystal displays to light emitting diodes, to coatings. Herein, specular and diffuse reflectance from controlled phase separation of polymer blend films, a well‐known self‐organization process, are studied. Temperature‐induced spinodal phase separation of polymer blend films in which one of the components is selectively extracted is shown to exhibit enhanced surface roughness as compared to unextracted films, leading to a notable increase of diffuse reflectance. Diffuse reflectance of UV–visible light from such selectively leached phase‐separated blend films is determined by a synergy of varying lateral scale of phase separation (≈200 nm to 1 μm) and blend film surface roughness (0–40 nm). These critical parameters are controlled by tuning annealing time (0.5–3 h) and temperature (140, 150, 160 °C) of phase separation. Angle‐resolved diffuse reflection studies show that the surface‐roughened polymer films exhibit diffuse reflectance up to 40° from normal incident light in contrast to optically uniform as‐cast films that exhibit largely specular reflectance. Furthermore, the intensity of the diffusively reflected light can be enhanced (300–700 nm) or reduced (220–300 nm) significantly by coating the leached phase‐separated films with a thin silver over layer.

     

聚甲基乙烯基醚的局部构象

采用低能构象方法和构象扫描方法,在Dreiding力场下,对含有3种不同侧基取向的PVME的全同二单元体和间同二单元体进行全松弛优化.通过统计平均得到PVME各种构象状态的几何参数和构象能.由统计平均的结果确立了包含侧基所有可能取向信息的PVME链的RIS模型,并利用MontCarlo方法计算了PVME链的特征比,结合实验数据讨论了侧基取向行为的影响.     

Organic Matrix Assisted Low-temperature Crystallization of Black Phase Inorganic Perovskites

All-inorganic perovskites have attracted increasing attention for applications in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and optoelectronics, including light-emitting devices (LEDs). Cesium lead halide perovskites with tunable I/Br ratios and a band gap aligning with the sunlight region are promising candidates for PSCs. Although impressive progress has been made to improve device efficiency from the initial 2.9 % with low phase stability to over 20 % with high stability, there are still questions regarding the perovskite crystal growth mechanism, especially at low temperatures. In this Minireview, we summarize recent developments in using an organic matrix, including the addition and use of organic ions, polymers, and solvent molecules, for the crystallization of black phase inorganic perovskites at temperatures lower than the phase transition point. We also discuss possible mechanisms for this low-temperature crystallization and their effect on the stability of black phase perovskites. We conclude with an outlook and perspective for further fabrication of large-scale inorganic perovskites for optoelectronic applications.     

聚合物共混物的相容性及相分离

综述了聚合物共混物相容性和相分离的研究现状。介绍了聚合物共混物的相容性理论,影响相容性的因素及改善和相容性的方法和表征相容性的手段。聚合物共混物的相分离机理制约着材料的性能,旋节分离和成核－增长相分离分别形成不同的形态结构。旋节分离和成核－增长相分离所对应的动力学过程是不同的,散射光强与相分离时间分别满足指数和幂指数关系。     

聚醚砜改性环氧树脂体系粘弹性相分离的研究

采用光学显微镜、光散射和扫描电镜等技术对聚醚砜(PES)/环氧树脂/二(2,6-二甲基苯胺基)甲烷体系的相分离过程进行了研究. 实验结果表明在该体系的相分离的演化过程中存在着明显的慢动态相的粘弹性效应, 同时对于PES含量较低的体系(PES-13.2 wt%和15.9 wt%), 在120和140 ℃固化时均观察到二次相分离现象, 而PES含量较高的体系(PES-18.5 wt%), 在同样温度下固化时仅观察到一次相分离过程.     

Structure Formation During the Isothermal Crystallization of an Oriented Blend of Isotactic Polystyrene with Poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide)

Summary: Isothermal crystallization of an oriented blend of isotactic polystyrene (iPS) with poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) (PPO) was studied by in situ polarized FT‐IR spectroscopy and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction. The structural organization during the oriented crystallization consists of three stages. The first stage is the orientation relaxation of molecular chains of iPS and PPO, the degree of orientation of iPS increases in the second stage, and the oriented chains of iPS crystallize in the third stage.

     

热致相分离法制备聚烯烃微孔膜研究进展

非极性及弱极性的结晶高聚物常温下无合适的良溶剂,所以无法使用传统的非溶剂致相分离法制取微孔膜,而近年来发展的热致相分离法解决了这一问题。研究发现聚乙烯、聚丙烯、乙烯．乙烯醇共聚物、乙烯．丙烯酸共聚物、聚(4-甲基-1-戊烯)等聚烯烃是可采用热致相分离法制备微孔膜的材料。本文综述了近年来在热致相分离法制备聚烯烃微孔膜方面的研究进展,重点介绍各种制膜材料(聚合物、稀释剂、萃取剂和助剂)与各种制膜工艺对制得的聚烯烃微孔膜孔径、膜通量和非对称结构等的影响。     

Shear‐Induced Morphological Change in PP/LLDPE Blend

The morphology of a PP/LLDPE blend (50 : 50) by phase dissolution at high shear rate combined with dynamic packing injection molding at low shear rate was investigated by atomic force microscopy. Phase dissolution under high shear rate is manifested by a co‐continuous two‐phase structure that could be broken down to an island‐like structure when a low shear rate is applied via dynamic packing injection molding or simply by manual deformation.